International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching

Roberto de Andrade do Nascimento Junior, José; Morais Freire, Gabriel Lucas; Ribeiro Contreira, Andressa; Quinaud, Ricardo T.; Jowett, Sophia; Gonçalves, Marina Pereira; Vicentini de Oliveira, Daniel; Fiorese, Lenamar

doi: 10.1177/17479541231194758pmid: N/A

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Coach–Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (CART-Q) in a sample of 1344 Brazilian youth and adult athletes. Participants completed the CART-Q and the Basic Needs Satisfaction in Sport Scale (BNSSS). Data analysis was conducted through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), Cronbach's alpha, composite reliability, multigroup analysis, and Pearson's correlation (p < .05). CFA confirmed a multidimensional structure containing the three dimensions of Closeness, Commitment, and Complementarity: χ² (37) = 264.10; χ²/df = 5.13; CFI = .96; TLI = .94; and RMSEA = .068. Internal consistency was satisfactory (>.70). SEM model showed an acceptable fit (χ² (56) = 593.28; χ²/df = 2.71; CFI = .90; TLI = .90; RMSEA = .057), indicating that the three dimensions of the CART-Q predicted positively all basic needs satisfaction subscales (β range = .11 to .38). CART-Q was revealed to be invariant across gender, sport type, and age group. It was concluded that the CART-Q can satisfactorily be used in research studies involving Brazilian athletes regardless of their age group, gender, and sport.

Nam, KwangWoo; Kim, CheolYong; Yoon, SangJin

doi: 10.1177/17479541231190036pmid: N/A

In Judo, one of the combat sports, athletes must endure high intensity, long-term training sessions that extend for long durations to achieve outstanding performances. Authentic leadership plays an essential role in this combat sport by supporting players who may experience slower growth and in enduring the rigorous and long-term training. Despite this leadership type being essential for fostering development and success in judo, few studies have been conducted on authentic leadership in the context of sports. This study investigated the relationship between judo coaches’ authentic leadership and judo athletes’ self-management and perceived performance; it also investigated the mediating effects of self-management on the relationship between authentic leadership and perceived performance. We used a convenience sampling method to recruit 274 Korean judo athletes. We conducted frequency analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, reliability analysis, correlation analysis, and structural equation modeling. The results showed that judo coaches’ authentic leadership had a significant effect on athletes’ self-management, but no significant effect on their perceived performance. Additionally, judo athletes’ self-management had a significant effect on perceived performance. Further, self-management had a mediating (complete) effect on the relationship between judo coaches’ authentic leadership and athletes’ perceived performance. Our results show that judo coaches’ authentic leadership does not directly affect athletes’ perceived performance, but has an indirect effect through the mediating effect of self-management. In other words, judo coaches’ authentic leadership can directly enhance athletes’ self-management and indirectly enhance athletes’ perceived performance, thereby suggesting that it is an important factor in athletes’ performance progress.

Pill, Shane; Petersen, Jasmine; Agnew, Deb; Prichard, Ivanka; Ridley, Kate

doi: 10.1177/17479541231191596pmid: N/A

BackgroundIn Australia, there are fewer women in tennis coaching roles. Identifying the barriers (and supports) for women in sport coaching roles is necessary to inform the development of strategies that will address this underrepresentation of women in such roles.AimThis study aimed to examine the experiences of women in tennis coaching roles in Australia.MethodsSemi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 women coaches (Mage = 45.5 ± 11.6 years) purposefully sampled from Tennis Australia ‘coach members’. An inductive thematic analysis was conducted. The investigation was underpinned by the ecological systems theory.FindingsFive themes were drawn from the analysis of the interview transcripts: (a) stereotypically male profession, (b) career instability and longevity, (c) family/work-life tension, (d) organisational support and (e) career advancement opportunities.ConclusionThis study provides important insight into strategies that may assist in addressing the gender disparity that exists in the sport coaching profession. Specifically, increased provision of support (e.g. organisational support), guidance in relation to pursuing a coaching career, developmental opportunities and financial support will be important to attracting and retaining women in coaching roles.

Aarons, Mitchell F; Vickery, Will; Bruce, Lyndell; Young, Chris M; Dwyer, Dan B

doi: 10.1177/17479541231206682pmid: N/A

Elite sport coaches are often expected to make high-stakes decisions in time-constrained environments, such as during matches. The quality or efficiency of these decisions is bound by context-specific constraints on their decision-making. Artificial intelligence-based tools could alleviate some of these constraints. In Australian football, it is not yet known what these context-specific constraints are, nor is there any understanding of the thoughts and perception of elite Australian football coaches towards the use of artificial intelligence to support their decision-making. This study is the first to explore these issues in the context of elite Australian football and aims to inform the effective design and integration of tools to support the in-match decision-making of coaches in a manner that is welcomed by coaches. Using semi-structured interviews with elite Australian football coaches (n = 6) and reflexive thematic analysis, two domains were explored: ‘barriers to decision-making’ and ‘thoughts and perceptions of a decision support system (DSS)’. Coaches discussed seven ‘cognitive’ and ‘environmental’ barriers, some of which may be addressed using artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, four themes were generated for the second domain, namely ‘willingness to adopt’, ‘expectation’, ‘concern and criticism’, and ‘DSS role’. The findings enable practitioners to design tools that are intended to address some of these barriers, while also providing insights into important considerations for the implementation and design of these tools that may increase the likelihood of achieving the endorsement of elite coaches and their support staff.

Marsollier, Élise; Hauw, Denis

doi: 10.1177/17479541231196472pmid: N/A

Several severe performance blocks have been described in the sport psychology literature, in particular the lost move and the yips. Beyond the identification of the traumatic situations associated with these problems, there is a lack of understanding of the process that ultimately culminates in performance blocks. In the present study, a situated and dynamic analysis of a specific type of block in acrobatics was conducted to: (i) identify the propensities of trampolinists to develop lost move, (ii) categorize the types of moves involved, (iii) determine the circumstances of the occurrence of lost moves as typical situations, and (iv) describe the evolution of the loss and its duration. The nine national and international-level French-speaking coaches we interviewed were asked to describe the lost moves they had experienced as coaches. Prior to their interview, each coach had to answer a questionnaire in which they were asked to identify the number of lost moves they experienced. Based on our results, lost moves appeared as evolutive adaptative processes with four steps: disruption, manifestation, contamination, and final adaptation. The phenomenon appeared as observable behavioral manifestations emerging from the interaction between athletes’ dispositions and the situations in which they find themselves throughout their sporting careers. Thus, lost moves might be considered as transitional states in skill development to which an athlete’s performance can branch off. Three main levels of concrete interventions were described, including careful consideration of the athletes’ dispositions and life-course circumstances, avoiding contamination, time off, and engaging in other activities.

Raudasoja, Iina; Vasankari, Tommi; Simula, Mikko; Villberg, Jari; Vähä-Ypyä, Henri; Kokko, Sami

doi: 10.1177/17479541231225182pmid: N/A

Sixty-two percent of Finnish children and adolescents aged 9–15 participate in sports club activities, yet only one-third of sports participants reach the recommended 60 min of daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. The inadequate physical activity of participants underlines the need for physical education among those participating in sports club activities. Sports coaches have significant potential in promoting participants’ weekly overall physical activity beyond sports training, given their role of authority. However, coaches in Finland mainly work on a voluntary basis, with varying knowledge and capabilities. The aim of the study was to investigate the physical education orientation and activity of sports coaches, and the associations of these with the moderate-to-vigorous physical activity of young sports participants. Questionnaire data from coaches (n = 26) and young sports participants aged 6–18 (n = 201), and accelerometer data from young sports participants (n = 293) were included in the analysis. The results indicated that even though sports coaches recognized the importance of physical education, they have not fully embraced their role as physical educators and promoters of weekly overall physical activity among young sports participants. The role of families was considered most significant in physical education. Coaches perceived their possibilities to influence the physical activity behavior of the participants as limited. Coaching education and experience had a positive relationship with the coaches’ activity in implementing physical education, highlighting the importance of coaching education. The findings suggest that there is a need to increase collaboration with coaches and families to ensure an adequate amount of weekly overall physical activity of children and adolescents.

Matthews, Alysha D; Erickson, Karl

doi: 10.1177/17479541231193302pmid: N/A

Transformational leadership has been presented as a tool for coaches to foster positive youth development. One component of this concept is individualized consideration (IC), where leaders show care through supporting their followers’ individual needs. Examining the unique context of minor hockey will provide a more nuanced and complex description of IC. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to demonstrate how minor hockey coaches consider individual differences and tailor their practice to athletes’ needs. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 10 male minor hockey coaches whose teams consisted of 9- to 13-year-old, predominantly male, athletes. Findings show these coaches demonstrated the use of IC through three steps (a) gathering information about their athletes (e.g. engaging in interactions), (b) assessing individual needs (e.g. developmental) and (c) acting to support IC (e.g. adjusting coaching practices). Findings suggest (a) IC can be implemented to support basic and more complex needs of athletes, (b) IC can be implemented with teams of athletes and (c) the context of minor hockey is constraining the implementation of IC.

Malcolm, Dominic; Hardwicke, Jack; Kenyon, James Andrew

doi: 10.1177/17479541231190154pmid: N/A

This article reports on a survey of concussion knowledge (CK), attitudes (CA) and reporting intention (CRI) amongst a multisport cohort of UK university student-athletes. A cross-sectional study design was used, with 217 student-athletes completing the Rosenbaum Concussion Knowledge and Attitudes Survey – Student Version. The findings show that CK is broadly aligned with previous study cohorts including research in North America, and that sport type had no effect on CK, CA and CRI. Whilst gender did not affect CA or CRI, males returned higher CK scores than females. The respondents’ concussion history did not affect CA. Paradoxically, respondents with a history of concussion had significantly greater CK scores yet were more likely to report an intention to continue playing with SRC symptoms. There are three key implications of these findings. The comparison of findings between males and females highlights the need for a more nuanced conceptualisation of safety and risk in relation to SRC. Second, the evidence suggests a strong need for UK universities to introduce bespoke education programmes and policies formalising the healthcare support and return to learn of students post-SRC. Third, awareness of the complex interplay between SRC knowledge, experience and behaviour will enable coaches across all sports to exercise caution when managing SRC amongst students. The article concludes by arguing that there is a need for further qualitative research to understand how concussion is experienced by UK university students and provided for and accommodated within UK universities.

Salmon, Danielle M.; Badenhorst, Marelise; Brown, James; Romanchuk, Janelle; Kerr, Zachary Yukio; Walters, Simon; Clacy, Amanda; Keung, Sierra; Sullivan, S. John; Register-Mihalik, Johna; Whatman, Chris

Langan-Evans, Carl; Hearris, Mark A; McQuilliam, Stephen; Burke, Louise M; Stellingwerff, Trent; Elliott-Sale, Kirsty J; Morton, James P

doi: 10.1177/17479541231163088pmid: N/A

The aim of the present study was to simultaneously audit hormonal contraceptive (HC) use, menstrual cycle characteristics and training/nutrition related profiles in pre-menopausal women from varying athletic and exercise backgrounds. Elite (n = 51), sub-elite (n = 118) and amateur (n = 392) female athletes and exercisers were examined via an anonymous quantitative/qualitative survey tool. All analyses for ratio data were conducted utilising one- and two-way ANOVA/ANCOVA and odds ratio models, with ordinal data analysed via Pearson's Chi-squared tests. HC use was similar across elite, sub-elite and amateurs (34–44%). Menstrual cycle length was not different (P = 0.08) between competitive levels (28 ± 13 days), but 66% of respondents reported cycle variability (10 ± 11 days). Training profiles were not different based on contraceptive status (P > 0.05) yet were across competitive groups (P < 0.05). Daily meal/snack intakes were not different between contraceptive status (P > 0.05), though elite and sub-elite groups reported a higher daily meal consumption compared to amateurs (P < 0.01). Forty percent of all respondents skipped meals, attributed to lack of time, schedule and alterations in appetite, with reported changes in taste preferences during pre-menses (14–35%) and menses (15–25%) towards sweet foods (60%), with cravings for chocolate and other confectionary (25%). Prevalence of dietary supplement use was not influenced by contraceptive status (P = 0.31), though elites (76%) reported higher use (P = 0.04) than amateurs (63%). Data demonstrates that in female athletes and exercisers, competitive level appears to affect simple markers of training and nutrition practice, yet contraceptive status does not.